A letter today in The Nation sums up my feelings:
Why is Thailand executing death-row felons again?
I was saddened to read that Thailand's six-year moratorium on executions, or the death penalty, has finished. Recently two inmates were executed by lethal injection in Bang Kwang prison after being sentenced to death for smuggling drugs.
In your newspaper there was little attention on that event, only a short report.
The results of numerous studies have shown already that imposing the death penalty is not effective in preventing more crime. Trouble is the justice system cannot guarantee that innocent people will not be found guilty, and the death penalty is an irreversible act. Due to the use of DNA tests, US authorities later found that about a third of prisoners on death row were innocent.
Moreover, people who are financial vulnerable, who cannot afford teams of expensive lawyers, and who have no (political) connections often end up on death row.
The only reason why people favour the death penalty is for revenge, instead of responding with compassion or hope for rehabilitation.
The UN General Assembly urged a moratorium on state executions six years ago and I was happy to see Thailand followed that call up until now.
What was the reason that Thailand decided to execute offenders on death row again? To try out lethal injections as a new "more humane" method of finishing people off? Or is it a new "achievements" for the Abhisit administration? I wondered why there was so little attention in Thailand to these executions. Al Jazeera aired a reaction from Amnesty International, but I saw no reports on the BBC, CNN, or Thai channels.
Maybe the reason is that we, in Thailand, are so accustomed to people not being punished for extrajudicial killings and mass murder by security forces (mainly in the South and during Thaksin's 'War on drugs') that we don't care if two more people are "legally" murdered by the State. But there are still more than 800 prisoners on death row!
I did not read any reaction of the (powerless) Human Rights Commission of Thailand, freshly installed by Abhisit.
I hope this event will start a new |discussion about abolishing the death penalty in Thailand and that the country will follow the example of EU nations and many others who abolished the death penalty, except of course the United States and China and some less developed |countries
Richard Barrow at Thai-Blogs also opposes the death penalty.
Two drug traffickers on death row at Bang Kwang Prison were executed by lethal injections this evening in Thailand. They were Bundit Charoenwanich, 45, and Jirawat Phumpruek, 52. Both were arrested on March 29, 2001 for having 114,219 methamphetamine tablets in their possession. Convicted of drug trafficking, they were given the capital punishment. Although the death sentence is often commuted to life imprisonment, the Director of the Department of Corrections received a directive from the Prime Ministers office for this sentence to be carried out.
According to Thai newspapers, the execution happened this evening at 5.30 p.m. at Bang Kwang Prison. No-one knew it was going to happen as it was kept a secret from everyone. Lockdown was at 3 p.m. as normal. Then the two prisoners were taken out of their cells on Death Row to be prepared for the execution. This preparation took one hour. They were allowed one call to relatives but they were only given one minute to talk. One of the prisoners rang his home but there was no answer. His mother had just been to visit him that afternoon and probably hadn't reached home. The prisoner then asked for a favour to call her mobile phone which was granted. Finally he was able to get through to her to let her know that he was about to be executed. The other prisoner spoke briefly to his wife and young son.
The prisoners were also instructed to write a will. The records of the prisoners were brought to the prison from the police station. Their fingerprints were then checked to make sure they had the right prisoner. The execution order from the Prime Minister's office was then read out to them. They were then given flowers and incense sticks and given an opportunity to say a prayer. They faced towards Wat Bang Praek which is next door and where the cremation will take place. There is a small death door in the wall here. Before the execution, they were offered a last meal. This was a curry and fried asparagus. They were also given an apple and a packet of cigarettes. Obviously they weren't very hungry. They were then led into the execution chamber where they were given a final blessing and sermon by a monk.
The governor of Nonthaburi and other government officials attended the execution together with reporters. The relatives weren't present but they will go the prison in the morning to take part in religious rites for the prisoners. The last execution by machine gun was carried out on 11th December 2002. This was then changed to lethal injection. The first and last time this was carried out was 12th December 2003 when four prisoners were executed. This is now the second occasion that lethal injection was used. According to the Department of Corrections, a prisoner is injected with three kinds of drugs consisting of sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride. The first drug is a barbiturate which makes the prisoner unconscious. The second one is a muscle relaxant which can paralyze the entire muscle and stop breathing. The last one stops the heart and causes cardiac arrest.
This is a sad day for Thailand. I am sorry but I don't believe in the death penalty and I certainly don't believe in the lethal injection as the method.
For more information about Thai Prison Life, please visit our www.ThaiPrisonLife.com website.
The death penalty is barbaric, outdated, prone to abuse, doesn't deter crime, discriminates against the poor, and sometimes kills innocent victims. The order for the murder of these two drug dealers came from the office of the Prime Minister. The blood is on his hands.
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